Month: March 2020

Books to help you beat worry, anxiety, and stress

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Give the ol’ newsfeed a rest and feast your weary eyes upon these lovelies instead.

Here for your viewing pleasure are a few tomes that inform my own approach to managing stress, anxiety, and worry:

1. Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind by Napoleon Hill

This is my #1 Napoleon Hill offering.

His book Think & Grow Rich gets a lot more press (and is the best-selling personal development book of all time) but I like “With peace of mind” even more.  Hill was in his eighties when he penned this one, had lived through more ups and downs by then, and the hard won wisdom it reveals practically leaps off every page.

It’s also more concise, and his list of 43 characteristics of the ‘man who is consistently himself’ (Note it was published in 1967 – there’s good advice for the ladies here too) is one of the best things I’ve seen.

2. How To Stop Worrying And Start Living by Dale Carnegie

Again, Dale Carnegie is probably more famous for his How To Win Friends And Influence People, but I can’t get enough of this book.  I’ve given it to clients and they’ve made it mandatory bed time reading too.

Each chapter is easy to follow and it’s filled with great stories and examples of folks thriving by using these principles.

It was first published in 1944, so another one that’s stood the test of time.

3. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Speaking of being tested by time…

Now we go back even farther.

Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher and the emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD.  If you’ve seen Gladiator, he was the old emperor killed by his son Commodus at the start of the movie.

This one’s an outlier because it was probably never intended by its author to be a coherent whole.  It’s more like a collection of his notes that were compiled and published after his death.

Some say it’s cynical but I don’t agree.

Many of its ideas are based in Stoicism, and are all about practicing acceptance, not getting attached to things, and focusing on becoming the best version of yourself – all viewpoints which, if you embrace them as your daily MO, can make you almost “worry-proof”.

4. Biographies.

This one’s more of a category than a specific book.

One of the reasons I love reading biographies is they grant you such a long-term perspective.   You can read about a person’s life and all the setbacks they overcame.  And you can read about a life in another time.  Often reminds me there’s nothing new under the sun.

Every age has its shocks.

The world keeps ticking on.

In fact, Warren Buffet makes a practice of reading old newspapers for the same reason.  He says looking at long gone, sensationalist headlines about events that are now mere echoes in time keeps him grounded.

My favorite biography (and perhaps my favorite book) is Titan, the biography of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow.  I also loved Nelson Mandela’s autobiography A Long Walk To Freedom and the Walter Isaacson biography of Benjamin Franklin.

Something about getting lost in these amazing, epochal lives leaves me with a persistent sense of calm.

On a different-but-related note, having a solid plan for a free marketing channel (that more than 60% of business owners rate as their most profitable) could also give you a leg up on the next few months, as life burps and sways its way back toward normal.

Hence, I recommend my new book Stealth Email Secrets.

It reveals for the first time the complete email marketing system I use to increase sales and customer loyalty for my clients.  I honestly believe anyone can use this system to sell more of ANY product or service, in ANY economy.  You can read it in a single afternoon and start using its secrets to make more sales as soon as tomorrow, if you want.

(Plus it’s just an entertaining/informative read per my usual muscular style.)

Available in Kindle or paperback, you can grab your copy from Amazon:

Click here to get The Muscle’s NEW book.

Also, I just knocked 40% off the price of the paperback (Kindle is just $9.99).

Personally, I’d always rather have a physical book in my hands.  Call me old-fashioned.  I know you might prefer that too and understand many folks are tightening their purse strings right now so figured I’d help out.  I also know that for some this could be potentially business-saving information.

You can thank me by leaving an absolutely glowing review, should you feel so inclined. 😉

However, I won’t be keeping the price this low forever.

Be sure to grab your copy TODAY so you don’t miss it:

Get my Stealth Email Secrets book for 40% OFF.

Well, there you go.

Books to lighten the load, as it were.

I hope they’ll be as good to you as they’ve been to me.

Happy Stress-Busting,

Conor Kelly

“Best business email in response to the CV crisis I have received.”

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Question:

How well are you communicating with your customers during this time?

98% of what’s landed in my inbox as a response to the crisis from various businesses has ranged from pointless to inane, such as suggesting I sing the Happy Birthday song to myself twice when washing my hands (no joke, that was part of a real email a business thought to send me).

Most have had me running for the unsubscribe link.

With one of my clients this week we took a different tack.

Here’s just a sample of the responses we got:

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“This is a wonderful message.  You will always have my business!”

“Thank you folks for reaching out and offering your generous support and good spirit to the community.”

“You are awesome.  So thoughtful!”

“That is the best business email in response to the CV crisis I have received.”

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Now I have to give credit to this client because the initiatives were 100% his idea.  He’s good that way, and a smart marketer in his own right.  My contribution was knowing how to frame them effectively, and with a certain amount of flair.

Here’s the point:

You have an opportunity right now.  The word ‘crisis’ comes from the Greek krisis.  It literally means “turning point”.  So you have a choice; you can fall silent as some people will surely tell you to do.  Or you can use whatever platform you currently have to show leadership.

Now is the time to BUILD relationships.

Not let them go cold.

Think for a second about the relationship capital contained in responses like the ones above.

Case in muscular point: I started my personal training business in 2008.  Believe it or not the easiest and most profitable years, as far as marketing ROI anyway, were between 2008 and 2011.  One theory I have is when times are tight people clam up and stop marketing aggressively.  I was doing the opposite.  That meant less competition.  And indeed the business grew nicely during those years.

There’s no doubt about it, we’re headed for a recession.

You might need to make some sacrifices in the months ahead.

Don’t let it be your marketing, unless you want to fade into oblivion.

Alright, I’ll climb down off of my soap box now.

(And wipe it down thoroughly.)

If you’d like me to help you quickly grab more market share in the coming months while your competition is hitting the snooze button, go here to request your no-stress Free Brainstorm Call to find out if we’re a fit:

https://conorkelly.com/free-brainstorm-call/

But time is short.

My schedule is filling up.

And I’ll be marketing more, not less.

Happy Relationship-Building,

Conor Kelly

Weird St. Patrick’s Day

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This is weird.

With St. Patrick’s Day essentially canceled this year, here for your viewing pleasure are a few MORE strange St. Paddy’s Day facts:

*The original colour worn by Patrick and to mark St. Patrick’s Day…was blue.  It became green the more the party went global – ostensibly due to the Emerald Isle’s greenness, shamrocks, leprechauns, every Irish national sporting uniform ever, and the green in the Irish flag.

*Patrick’s real name was Maewyn.

Very Lord of The Rings.

*Herpetologists – i.e. folks who study reptiles agree that there probably never were snakes in Ireland for Patrick to drive out.  Too cold.  So the snakes of legend are thought to be metaphorical.  At least they weren’t the ironic kind – those smug bastards.

*Once upon a time, in the ol’ U.S. of A. the Irish were considered a migrant crisis.

Good one to remember.

As they poured in to the states on the Eastern seaboard, they were discriminated against harshly.  Now they’re a force in American culture and politics.

#Truth

*The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade takes place in Hot Springs, Arkansas and is just 98-feet (or 49 leprechauns) long.

Crucially, this allows for more pub time.

*In the town of O’Neill, Nebraska (named for its Irish founder) residents wear green not only on St. Patrick’s, but on the 17th of every month.  That’s dedication.

*On the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, St. Paddy’s Day is a national holiday.  Montserrat boasts a rich Irish and African heritage.

Like me.

(The Muscle began in The Ivory Coast.)

*Finally, here’s a clip of one of my fave Conor Kelly productions.  It’s a workout routine I shot while vacationing in Ireland, with just about the most scenic backdrops of any workout video I ever done seen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jWfldJTGik

It’s timely, as it can be done at home.

Well that’s all for the weird and the wonderful of the day.

If you’d like done-for-you emails like this one that both delight and SELL your subscribers, follow the rainbow to find your no-stress Free Brainstorm Call here:

http://www.calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

And what a pot o’ gold she is.

Mark my words:

With everything that’s going on…and everything that’s coming…email is about to become that much more important as a marketing channel.  Don’t wait.  Start now, or your competition will figure this out first.

I’m currently booking projects for next month and I expect my calendar to fill up.

I leave you with this Irish blessing:

May love and laughter light your days

And warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours

Wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

With joy that long endures

May all life’s passing seasons

Bring the best to you and yours

Happy St. Patrick’s Day,

Conor Kelly

Copywriters who cheat on book reports

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Recently got this testimonial from leading coach, speaker, and podcaster Paul Reddick of Baseball Education Center:

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“I’ve worked with various copywriters over the course of 20 years of being in business.  Some were expensive, some highly recommended, others had sterling reputations, yet at every turn I was disappointed.  It looked like they applied whatever cookie cutter sales system they had, and it would end up being this big pile of marketing hype and words.

Working with Conor has been a breath of fresh air.  Not only has the entire process been professional from start to finish, but it quickly became obvious that he took the time to understand, I mean really understand our product, which caught me by surprise because I wasn’t used to it!

For anyone who is thinking about working with Conor, I suggest you get on the phone with him.  You’ll have a different experience of a copywriter.  I certainly did.  And we’ll continue our professional relationship into the foreseeable future.”

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This is interesting for a couple of reasons.

Paul said something in conversation after our first project together that stuck with me.  Not only was it obvious to him that I’d spent a lot of time on the product (in this case a video), but in his previous experiences of copywriters, when looking over their work, he was always waiting for that moment when you realize they didn’t watch the training.

That statement kind of blew me away.

You’re writing a sales page, how are you not going to study the product you’re selling?

It’s a bit like when we were back in school and had to do a book report.

You know there were always those who’d try to skip the reading part, get the crib’s notes – or ‘borrow’ a classmate’s notes.

It depends on the product and how much content is in there, but if it’s an info product and I’m writing the copy, I usually go through it MULTIPLE times.  And in various formats if I can (e.g. if it’s a book I try to get the audio version too).  It’s the only way to know the material.  It also lets me dig up a wealth of sales hooks and write dozens of badass bullet points that stomp all over a prospect’s indifference and get them leaning in, watering at the mouth and wanting to read more.

If you don’t put in this kind of effort, all that’s left is to follow a paint-by-numbers template or throw so much hype in there the ad becomes embarrassing to run.

Not saying I’m perfect.

But at least you can count on me bringing my A-game.

If you want copy that converts, there’s no two ways about it; you’ve got to shut the door to your room, turn up the Baroque classical music, and study your gluteus assimus off.

Them’s the breaks.

Or, you can legally and ethically “cheat”, and hire an honor roll student like me to geek out and write your book report for you. 🙂

Step 1 is booking your 15-minute no-fuss Free Brainstorm Call to see if we’re a fit.

Meet me after class here:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

I’m booking projects three weeks out at the moment so best hurry if you’re interested.

Alright, that’s enough shenanigans for one day.

Muscle out.

Happy Studies,

Conor Kelly

[PHOTO] Are you missing this crucial piece in your marketing?

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IMG_1957

Take a minute and read the ad above.

This one caught my eye while riding the subway the other day.

Can you tell what’s missing?

Let’s come back to that.

First, the good (or at least decent):

Not a bad headline, although it could probably be better.  The “Did you know” with the statistic used is what I call a ‘catch all’.  It paints with a broad stroke how the ad’s content could be relevant to anyone on the train.  The amazon review is also a great way to do social proof.  And I like the “common causes of dehydration” as it supports the claim in the headline.

Subconsciously, riders are reading this going, “I travel, I drink…maybe I’m dehydrated.”

Now the bad and the ugly:

What’s being promised here?  There’s no real benefit.

For starters, dehydration can lead to fatigue, poor mental performance, higher toxicity, faster aging of skin, headaches, dizziness, poor digestion and…wait for it…a slow metabolism.  You can’t stop at telling them why they’re dehydrated.  You’ve got to connect the dots for them so they know precisely what it means.

Better hydrated they can:

Boost energy…

Look younger…

Think better…

They’re in dehydration ‘hell’ right now.

Show them heaven.

Heck, you might even drink more water today just based off my short paragraph of ‘harms’ above.  Those could easily be bullet points in the ad and would not take up much space.

No doubt you can see how any of the above might give this puppy an ROI-enhancing facelift.

But the simple 5-minute “trick” that will juice up the response from this ad without changing anything else?

Survey says…

Having a call to action.

What do they want us to DO here?

Not clear at all.

Sure, the Amazon review would suggest you could find the product there, but that’s simply too much homework to lay on people who are rushed, distracted by their phones, or merely avoiding making eye contact.  Even “Visit this website” with a URL would probably beat what’s there now.  A web address with a promo code to get a limited-time discount…even better.

And maybe a QR code so they could scan a digital coupon direct to their phone.

Which leads me to the rub:

If there’s any confusion about what action you want your prospects to take in your ads, your emails, or when landing on your website, guess what?  You’re that much less likely to get any action whatsoever.  Don’t leave it to them to put two and two together.  Tell them EXACTLY what you want them to do.

Spurn this advice at your ownrisk.

Those are just a few potential ‘upgrades’ that jumped out at me while staring at this ad for a few minutes between Ossington and Bay stations on Toronto’s Bloor line.

Imagine what I could do if I had two solid hours to spend on your marketing. 😉

With that in mind, if you’d like me to perform one of my signature Mini Power Critiques on your website (or your sales letter, or your email campaign) here’s how it works:

I spend a couple of hours on your website then I send you detailed notes, along with a screen capture video, that outlines every last one of my recommendations to help you get more conversions, leads and customers – and jack up the ROI you get from any advertising you currently do.  I’ll even throw in suggestions for taglines, headlines, bullets, or other hooks that’ll inevitably occur to me.

The cost for this goodness is just $275USD.

And if your pulse is not already a bit faster, here’s what I’ll do:

If you book (and pay for) your website critique before Friday March 6th at 6PM, and you end up hiring me to do a re-write, I’ll credit this amount toward my fee.  In that sense, you’ll have gotten to drink of the fruit of my knowledge for free.

If you’re interested, go to my calendar below and book a time to tell me a little about your business, your current situation, and the item you’d like reviewed and we’ll take it from there:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

That does it for today’s muscular installment.

Mind ye this hallowed rule:

Let no marketing leave the door WITHOUT a call to action.

Happy Commuting,

Conor Kelly

 

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“With just a few short questions Conor was able to come up with a marketing plan that’s perfectly customized to my goals and my strengths.  He’s very knowledgeable, and has great instincts!”

–Amirali Rahnamoon, Osteopath at IN and OUT Fitness

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